Untouchable Hunger: Framing Of Childhood Poverty In India, May 2012-April 2014

Transcription

1 Georgia State University Georgia State University Communication Theses Department of Communication Untouchable Hunger: Framing Of Childhood Poverty In India, May 2012-April 2014 Amber L. Welch Follow this and additional works at: Recommended Citation Welch, Amber L., "Untouchable Hunger: Framing Of Childhood Poverty In India, May 2012-April 2014." Thesis, Georgia State University, This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Communication at Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Communication Theses by an authorized administrator of Georgia State University. For more information, please contact scholarworks@gsu.edu.

2 UNTOUCHABLE HUNGER: FRAMING OF CHILDHOOD POVERTY IN INDIA, MAY 2012-APRIL 2014 by AMBER WELCH Under the Direction of Leonard Teel ABSTRACT The effects of childhood poverty and hunger in India are systemic. Almost half of the county s children are classified as malnourished and 47 percent of those under the age of three are underweight (UNICEF, 2014). This thesis analyzes how Indian s English-language press has portrayed this widespread health issue during the past two years. This thesis also examines how the framing in the English-language press relates to the frames in the Hindi-language press. In light of framing theory, the study has found that the press used three principal media frames to portray child hunger. One frame focused on socioeconomic disparities, a second on geographic differences, and the third on government interventions. These frames, however, did not address more complex realities identified by developmental studies literature as contributing to the seemingly untouchable crisis of childhood poverty and hunger. INDEX WORDS: Framing, Developmental journalism, Sensationalism, India, Child hunger

3 UNTOUCHABLE HUNGER: FRAMING OF CHILDHOOD POVERTY IN INDIA, MAY 2012-APRIL 2014 by AMBER WELCH A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University 2014

4 Copyright by Amber La Shea Welch 2014

5 UNTOUCHABLE HUNGER: FRAMING OF CHILDHOOD POVERTY IN INDIA, MAY 2012-APRIL 2014 by AMBER WELCH Committee Chair: Leonard Teel Committee: Ann E. Williams Beryl I. Diamond Electronic Version Approved: Office of Graduate Studies College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University August 2014

6 iv DEDICATION I was blessed with an abundance of support as I completed this thesis, and to these supporters, I dedicate this work. To my partner Nicolas Vaughan, thank you for encouraging me to continue learning and for helping me in all of my efforts to do so. I look forward to continuing to share in each other s achievements and feel blessed that you understand that sharing aspirations is the quickest way to achieve them. I am grateful to have someone who inspires me toward new challenges with all that you do. To my parents, Audrey and Gordon Welch, your love and pride in my accomplishments have always been my biggest motivation. To Eva, thank you for giving me a good excuse to play and have fun whenever I see you. To Dylan, you are the smartest person I know, and your strength has taught me that I can do anything. To my grandmother Mittie Thomas and my late grandfather Tyrus Thomas, the wisdom you have shared and your belief in me has been my driving force.

7 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my research advisor, Dr. Leonard Teel, for his support both in the process of writing my thesis and in my overall academic and professional growth during my time as his research assistant. I would like to thank Dr. Ann E. Williams for expressing an interest in my research and my future academic plans from the time of our first meeting throughout the process of completing my thesis. I would like to thank Dr. Beryl I. Diamond for his encouragement to expand my research beyond the English language and for the new dimensions that this exploration into Hindi-language press opened in my approach to Indian childhood deprivation for both this and future research endeavors. I also wish to express my gratitude to the Georgia State University Department of Communication, with special thanks to Dr. David Cheshier and to staff member Ameya Ghaisas. Though not a native Hindi speaker, Ameya learned both Hindi and English during his primary education in India, and when I reached out for some assistance with Google translations of Hindi articles, he graciously contributed his time and effort toward helping me get more accurate English translations of the Hindi articles that I used in my research.

8 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS... v 1 INTRODUCTION Significance India s Current Economic Context Purpose of the Study Research Questions LITERATURE REVIEW Frames and the Coverage of Indian Child Deprivation Developmental Studies Scholarship and Current Press Accounts METHODS Framing Theory Data Selection Circulation Figures for Selected Newspapers Presentation Images Used with Hindi-language Child Poverty Articles RESULTS Geographic Frames Socioeconomic Frames Governmental Frames... 33

9 vii 5 CONCLUSIONS Methodological Limitations Suggestions for Future Research WORKS CONSULTED... 47

10 1 1 INTRODUCTION India is a vast country, a nation that is home to the world s biggest democracy. In a territory only one-third the size of the United States and divided into significantly different geographical areas separating its population of 1.2 billion people, India has numerous local languages and other sociocultural cleavages in religion and politics. The gap between the rich and the poor is also vast. This scourge of inequality (Shenk, 2014) familiar to those in the United States in terms of the Occupy Movement and the 1 percent is a matter of critical economic scholarship by authors such as Thomas Piketty, and India is a prime example of the chronic effects of the unequal distribution of wealth. Numerous activists, authors, and organizations have made efforts to help close India s gap in development, yet many Indian citizens, dissatisfied with the lack of progress, yearn for change as they approach this year s general elections. In this thesis, I examine the attention given to a subgroup of the poor: children. I focus on an examination of the conversation in the press and elsewhere about India s poor and deprived children. In some parts of my research, I examine Indian poverty in general rather than childhood nutritional deprivation. As Gragnolati, Bredenkamp, Shekar, das Gupta, and Yi (2006) explain, the prevalence of both underweight and severe underweight increases as household wealth falls (p. 13). For the purposes of this thesis, I use the term poverty as it applies to the underlying condition from which child hunger springs forth. My research focuses mainly on the English-language press and its framing of childhood deprivation due to poverty. In this study, I use Robert M. Entman s (1993) definition of framing as the process of taking one aspect of a perceived situation and making that aspect the most salient part of a given text (p. 51). In addition to the English press, I also examine a balanced set of Hindi-language articles and find a significant difference in the frames used in each language s press. In the process of my research,

11 2 I seek to identify how the media frames childhood poverty and deprivation. I also aim to offer some conclusions from the press account about its role in the serious issue of child hunger. The gravity of child hunger, and the poverty that drives it, is particularly evident as India prepares for its 2014 general elections. The election, as seen by the Indian scholar Ram Mashru, is the largest democratic event in history (The Diplomat, 2014). With 814 million registered voters, the outcome of this democratic event has captured international attention. On April 8, 2014, a New York Times front-page story was headlined: Wish for change animates voters in India election (Barry, p. A1). This thesis considers the basis for this desire for change with respect to conditions of inequality and, particularly, with concern for the deprivation of India s children. 1.1 Significance India has been, since the time of its independence in 1947, an interesting study of democracy amid diversity. Can democracy continue to thrive if the people governed by it are experiencing vast poverty? The future of any nation is its children, so what will India s political future look like given the fact that one in every three malnourished children in the world lives in India (Unicef, 2014)? The effects of malnutrition in early childhood impair cognitive, motor, and social development, as well as other lifelong consequences such as underperformance in school and an increased likelihood for adult malnutrition (The World Bank, 2011a). Malnutrition in India is more common than in sub-saharan Africa (Unicef, 2014), a troubling comparison since that region of Africa is often cited as a global outlier in terms of its rates of poverty (The World Bank, 2011a). Nearly 30 percent of newborns are born underweight, increasing vulnerabilities for further disease, and infant mortality is as high as 63 per 1,000 births (Unicef). In reports about the 2014 general elections, many news outlets are stating that the poor and the working

12 3 class in Indian are ready for radical changes. As Barry stated on the front page of the New York Times in April of this year, 814 million citizens are weary of corruption, a feeling that is especially strong among people from the lower classes (p. A1). In a nation with so many inhabitants, there are bound to be differences in lifestyles, but the scope and severity of the poverty that affects the Indian people is hard to comprehend. As of July 2012, the CIA estimated that India s population was 1,205,073,612, the second largest population in the world behind China (CIA, 2014). India s annual population growth rate is about 1.3 percent and is ranked eighty-ninth in comparison to the rest of the world (CIA, 2014). Another demographic factor to consider is that India s land mass is only slightly larger than onethird the size of the United States of America, leaving the country prone to overpopulation (CIA, 2014). Its large population, coupled with the country s geographic makeup, further complicates the cultural and socioeconomic divisions within India. Factoring in the large population and the overcrowded conditions, sheer probability would indicate that poverty and its effects such as malnutrition would reach some people, but the statistics in India paint a devastating picture. South Asia has the highest rates of poverty in the world, even higher than countries in Africa (Khalid, Javied, & Arshad, 2012). This poverty devastates everyone affected, but perhaps the most severely impacted group is small children, with an estimated 46 percent of children under the age of six classified as malnourished (Perappadan, 2013). 1.2 India s Current Economic Context Despite India s systemic poverty and child hunger issues, the country boasts a growing economy. In 2012, India had the fourth largest in the world according to international rankings (Gupta, 2012, p. 3). The explosive economic growth India has experienced in recent years can be credited in part to its embrace of economic liberalization (Gupta, 2012, p. 4). In fact, the

13 4 widespread embrace of economic liberalization tactics such as industrial deregulation has contributed to India s growth of more than 7 percent per year since the late 1990s (CIA, 2014). India s primary industries are agriculture and the service industry, with the latter accounting for nearly 75 percent of India s economic output (CIA, 2014). In late 2012, India reacted to a slight decline in the country s economic growth by announcing deficit reduction plans; however, projected medium-term growth remains positive for the country (CIA, 2014). As India s economy grows, however, so does the gap between the rich and the poor. A consequence of this poverty is the continuing state of deprivation and undernourishment that affects many Indian children. India ranks among the lowest countries, near Yemen and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the Global Hunger Index produced by the International Food Policy Research Institute ( Not enough on the plate, 2012). Almost half of the children are impacted from the complications of malnutrition, a condition used to label the effects of both protein-energy malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies (Gragnolati et. al, 2006, p. xvii). According to a University of Oxford study, even among its neighbors such as Nepal and Bangladesh, India is falling behind as much as one-third the rate of poverty alleviation compared to these other countries. Even in its best-performing states, India is still reducing poverty at around half the rate of the other countries ( Nepal reducing poverty faster than India, says Oxford study, 2013). Because of the country s growing wealth inequalities, the differences in social strata, and state-level governance, life in India can be isolating for some parts of the population. Because the differences affect India s poorest citizens by robbing them of some types of civic participation such as watching cable TV or accessing the Internet (Yin, 2009, p.390) gaining a real understanding of Indian poverty is a difficult task. With a contentious political

14 5 environment to boot, there is a complicated accounting of childhood poverty in the nation s press. This year s election has been an interesting snapshot of just how volatile the class disparities are making some Indian citizens, with the top candidates for prime minister themselves partially symbolizing the wealth gap. On one side of the divide is the common man, Narendra Modi, representing the poor and working people of India in a race against the other side, Rahul Gandhi, a member of the Gandhi political dynasty 1 and an embodiment of the English-speaking, Western-educated upper class. In this economic and political context, it is important to examine the economics and ownership behind India s news media. According to Rao (2010), vernacular newspapers struggle to keep up with the funding given to English-language newspapers in general (p. 7). He states that commercialization, particularly of English-language papers, has given Indian newspapers independence from political financing, thus providing more freedom in reporting (p. 3). With the much politicized climate of the Indian press in the midst of the monumental elections of 2014, is this an accurate appraisal? In the course of my research, I concluded that his appraisal of press freedom from political influence is not especially accurate. With respect to the newspapers accessed online in this study, there are some publications that have dubious ties to political interests. 2 Much like in the United States, if you combine a politically influenced press with media frames that conceal or exaggerate particular dimensions of a national issue, the results can be dangerous if no one studies or challenges these practices. 1 For the first 50 years after its independence, the Congress Party was the dominant political force at the federal level in India (Freedom House, 2013). Beginning with India s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, the Gandhi family has produced three prime ministers in the Congress Party. Rahul Gandhi is currently in a bid to continue this political legacy as he faces his opponent from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Narendra Modi (Harris, 2014). 2 Freedom House (2013) states that close relationships between politicians, business executives, lobbyists, and some leading media personalities have dented public confidence in the Indian press in recent years.

15 6 1.3 Purpose of the Study This study sets out to understand how the English-language Indian press coverage of the nation s child deprivation crisis frames the topic. I focus my analysis on determining what framing strategies are used by Indian reporters in various English-language newspapers as they cover the crisis at both the national and the state levels. This qualitative assessment of the English-language press coverage of child poverty in India explores how the causes and implications of child poverty are presented to the many Indians who read the English-language press. This thesis also draws from a balanced sample of Hindi-language newspapers to contrast the use of frames in each press. By looking at how the English-language press applies framing in the current press discourse, this study seeks to offer an assessment of how such an endemic issue one that has left an estimated 46 percent of children under the age of six malnourished (Perappadan, 2013) is characterized by a press that is accessible only to a particular demographic of Indians: English speakers or readers. 1.4 Research Questions 1. Does the English-language Indian press account employ framing devices in their reports of the country s childhood hunger problem? 2. If so, how accurately do the frames reflect current statistics on India s child hunger issues? 3. How does the theory of framing explain the differing levels of coverage about child hunger on a national level and on a state level? 4. What underlying conditions do the broad frames bring to light regarding the issue of child hunger in India?

16 7 5. From a limited sample of Hindi-language press articles, what are the differences between Hindi press frames and English press frames on the topic of childhood hunger?

17 8 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Frames and the Coverage of Indian Child Deprivation In my review of the literature on framing, the foundational author I consult is Robert M. Entman. He (1993) states that framing is the act of select[ing] some aspects of a perceived reality and mak[ing] them more salient in communicating text, in such a way as to promote a particular problem definition, causal interpretation, moral evaluation, and/or treatment or recommendation for the item described (p. 51). Frames first define a problem by making particular aspects of the problem more salient or meaningful to the audience. It is only from the starting place of a definition can framing theory go on to do the other work that Entman outlines: identify causes, evaluate the issue, and prescribe solutions (p. 52). Given that frames first define a problem, the work of Tversky and Kahneman (1981) is useful here to understand the psychology behind how an issue s frame impacts a person s decision-making processes surrounding that issue. The authors point out that the perception of the possible outcomes of a given issue will shift when the same issue is framed in different ways (p. 453). Further, when an outcome is framed as having a potential loss value (such as that of the loss of human lives), the decision-maker has been shown to display reversals of preference for a particular outcome (pp ). The authors classified the deviations of an outcome as either positive or negative from a neutral reference, and the explanation of how this system of gains and losses is given value by the decision-maker is called prospect theory (p. 454). In this light, the ways in which child poverty and malnutrition are framed in the news media have important outcomes on those who read these media accounts. Using this theory, Williams (2013) concludes that, when exposed to metaphorical loss frames, individuals attribute responsibility differently and make altered economic decisions as a result.

18 9 To eliminate some of the theoretical vagueness behind framing theory, some authors elaborated on the previous scholarship to provide more defined categories and models for framing theory. Scheufele (1999) situates framing as a theory of media effects. Scheufele s (1999) distinguishes between media-level and individual-level frames, the type of frame that I concern myself with in this study is the media-level frame the central organizing idea or story line that provides meaning to an unfolding strip of events (Gamson and Modigiliani, 1987, qtd. in Scheufele, p. 106). (Scheufele goes on to present a four-step process model of framing I discuss in more detail in the conclusion). Similarly, Levin, Schneider, and Gaeth (1998) subcategorize types of framing according to three types of valence framing effects: risky choice framing where two options are presented and only one choice may be made; attribute framing where one attribute of an issue is described in terms of either a positively valenced proportion or an equivalent negatively valenced proportion; and goal framing which encourages subjects to engage in a particular activity. Specific to the politically, socially, and emotionally charged issue of widespread child malnutrition, a discussion of how these frames impose negative or positive associations on the same core issue is helpful. Their discussion of valence framing effects explains how the negative or positive light in which the same information can be presented impacts the perception of the topic depending on what frame is employed (p. 150). Each of these three factors contributes to the media-level frames that I examine in this paper. Discussed in further detail in my findings, here are broad examples of how each of these three frames factor into press discourse on child deprivation: 1) Risky choice framing: Citizens are told that one political party should be chosen over another because only one of them truly cares and can help reduce the issues of poverty and its effects.

19 10 2) Attribute framing: A proposed piece of legislation is presented in one source as very good for the future of India s food production, while the same legislation is presented in another source as an unrealistic and deceptive measure that will only complicate the food scarcity issue 3) Goal framing: Women are told that if they would seek out more prenatal care that the rates of child mortality would be much lower. 2.2 Developmental Studies Scholarship and Current Press Accounts Due to the complicated relationships between India s poverty, its recent economic stagnation, and its lagging reduction rates for childhood death and malnutrition, it is difficult to comprehend the scope or the causes of the problem. As Nagaraj (2012) writes, the relationship between economic growth and poverty reduction is not unambiguous and proportional [so] how does one understand these patterns? (p. 1). He goes on to write that in modern economic conditions, we often rely on stylized facts (p. 2). But even the presentation of the most current statistics cannot present the interplay of the factors that contribute to the continuing inequalities that exist in India. As a case in point, even though absolute poverty has nearly halved in the last quarter of the twentieth century [this] reduction in poverty has not lessened the nutritional deficiency proportionately as widespread food deprivation persists, especially among women and children (p. 4). Further, framing theory tells us that even when referring to the same facts, the valance effects may be positive or negative depending on the frame. With this complexity in mind, an examination of the both the developmental studies literature and the press accounts reveals three broad frames that recur and can help manage the primary areas of concerns that arise in this discussion. The first broad frame that appears to emerge from the literature is the socioeconomic frame. This frame manifests in many ways and highlights different socioeconomic issues. The

20 11 role of women in society as contributors to child hunger is addressed, both in terms that implicate (Hemalatha, 2012) and empower (Ghildiyal, 2013) them as agents of change in the fight against childhood deprivation. The unequal distribution of wealth is another often-cited socioeconomic frame. Two vastly different economic circumstances can be found in the lives of many Indians in the state Uttar Pradesh, India s second richest state (PR Log, 2011). There, wealthy service industry staffers drive wealth (PR Log, 2011) while their neighbors, poor farmers, frequently experience economic devastation and personal loss due to malnutrition and disease (Aradhak, 2013). According to The World Bank (2011a), the level of education is another socioeconomic factor that has a large impact on India s income inequalities. As the statistics show, there is a 20 percent rise in income inequality between those with and without a graduate education (The World Bank, 2011a, p. 25). In my research of childhood poverty from both primary and secondary sources, another pattern that appears to repeat itself is that of geographic disparities. One article examined the 2013 Planning Commission s report on poverty, stating that poverty is on the rise despite government efforts to combat the problem through a series of welfare programs that have been in place for years (Satapathy, 2013). This article interprets the failure of these programs as simply a by-product of various disparities that arise due to the diversity among India s regions (Satapathy, 2013). Regional differences are also highlighted in secondary analyses of India s childhood poverty issue. The fact that there exists so much diversity among India s twenty-eight states and seven territories, many of which have unique languages and dialects (CIA, 2013), is a frequently cited obstacle to ending the nation s poverty. The frame of geographic distinctions can also be found in data on India s poverty; the World Bank (2011a) charted the growing divergence of

21 12 mean income across 23 Indian states (p. 26). The chart that displays this data rightly proclaims that Spatial Differences Have Grown in the distribution of mean income (p. 27). When regional disparities appear, they are often discussed as a matter of urban versus rural locales and can include discussions of the types of work that are done in these regions. Nagaraj explains some of the economic background that gives rise to this regional dichotomy in India: Workforce transformation the defining character of modern economic growth that was stalled during much of the twentieth century, finally commenced in the 1980s, with a fall of about 15 percentage points in the workforce engaged in agriculture. But the output composition has moved rapidly in favour [sic] of services since 1990, without a corresponding shift of the workforce. Thus the economy has acquired a dual face: it is rural and agrarian with 68 percent of the population living in villages, and with 56 percent of the workforce still subsisting on agriculture; yet it is a services economy, contributing 55 percent of the domestic output. The dichotomy implies growing inequality between town and country, as the services have created modest additional jobs. (p. 4) Among the most common frame that primary coverage and secondary literature both tend to include is that of government intervention. Whether a report is hopeful about government agents and actions or critical of them, articles that bring the government to the forefront of India s child hunger problem are prevalent in the literature. Some of these articles such as one entitled Ajit Pawar on one-day fast to repent his urinating-in-the-dam remarks, 2013 critique specific government officials (and in this case, one official s insensitive remarks to those suffering from a drought). Other articles examine the progress of certain government programs

22 13 such as 2011 s proposed, yet ultimately failed, federal food security bill (Anklesaria, 2013; Aiyar, 2013). As Kohli (2012) stated in his book Poverty Amid Plenty in the New India, economic changes in Indian states continue to diverge along several dimensions (p. 14). In Uttar Pradesh, a state that Kohli describes as a complex regional polity with considerable internal diversity, there is a chronic performance problem in terms of the state s development including factors such as growth and poverty (p. 160). Kohli attributes this diversity to corrupt government structures (p. 161) as well as the pervasiveness of ascriptive politics, especially the politics of caste (p. 15). This statement, of course, draws a connection between two of the frames: government interventions and socioeconomic factors. The common categories that seem to emerge in the discussion of child deprivation are, in this case, more intertwined than they initially appear. Deeply ingrained issues such as practices of social exclusion, based in India s caste system, appear to enable poverty to continue to exist even among periods of tremendous economic growth. As the 2011 World Bank (2011b) report explained when inequality is based on income rather than consumption measures, India is not so different relative to the inequality levels recorded in countries such as Brazil and South Africa, countries commonly singled out as global outliers (pp. 1-2). So what contributes to such vast levels of inequality? The World Bank (2011b) attributes the discrepancies between those who have and those who do not to social exclusion unique to India and the ramifications on employment, education, and the rules of social exchange of its caste system (p. 2). While India is not alone in having social groups that face caste exclusion, the structure of the caste system and its ramifications on employment, education, and the rules of social and economic exchange are distinctive [and] rooted in a philosophical tradition that justifies these [inequalities] (The World Bank, 2011b, p.2).

23 14 By recognizing and amassing articles that demonstrate how the English-language Indian press frames the issue of child deprivation and hunger for its readers, this research joins the conversation by first identifying which frames have been the most commonly used in the discussion from May 2012 to April Next, this study examines the discourse for instances when counterframes assert themselves in unique ways and offer some analysis of what we can learn from both the frames that recur often and the ones that have started to emerge between India s 2012 presidential elections and its historically large 2014 general elections. As Entman (1993) states, the frame in a news text is really the imprint of power it registers the identity of actors or interests that competed to dominate the text (p. 55). Since this research covers a time period leading up to a major political milestone for India and its democracy, this study will identify how one of the most problematic aspects of Indian life is framed by those with enough agency to dominate the press and how it is challenged by the fact the majority of press frames can also betray a lot about an issue by what they do not show.

24 15 3 METHODS In my analysis, I examine the Indian press to determine what frames are used to discuss the nationwide child hunger problem. Based on the patterns that emerge, I offer some conclusions to explain how these frames present international statistics and drive social attitudes toward the issue of India s undernourished children. The decision to analyze press accounts of Indian child hunger by focusing on how the topic is framed is grounded in Entman s theories on framing. I use framing as a tool to examine the media effects on public perception and policy decisions caused by the broad categories that are applied to the issue. Once I have identified and categorized articles depending on which frames are emphasized the most, I then conduct a qualitative content analysis of these news articles text (and in the case of a few Hindi articles, the pictures) to examine how these frames function surrounding the complex issue of child deprivation related to poverty. 3.1 Framing Theory In order to recognize journalistic frames, I rely on Entman s (1993) discussion of the concept. As he explains, the frames used in mass media reports of a phenomenon shape public thinking and discourse about the issue. Entman goes on to explain the processes that allow framing to function, stating that frames define problems diagnose causes make moral judgments, and suggest remedies (p. 52). In the case of Indian childhood hunger and deprivation, the press contributes to each of these steps as they report on the news and developments surrounding the issue. In my study, I use Entman s explanation of framing to guide a qualitative content analysis of the current media account of child deprivation. First, I establish if there are frequently used frames used in the press about child hunger. Next, I explore how the media s organization and release of information about child poverty may impose

25 16 distorted ideas about the agents that contribute to child hunger. Finally, I offer some conclusions about how the frames actually obscure or simplify some of the causes and complexities surrounding this issue. 3.2 Data Selection In the selection of my data set, I qualified English-language online Indian press accounts as sufficiently representative of Indian poverty discourse because the Constitution of India allows Parliament the option to use English for official purposes (Article 343). Although it is the subsidiary language with respect to Hindi, English is regarded as the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication (CIA, 2014). Having established that I would examine English-language online Indian publications, I employed search terms some of which included India, child, poverty, and malnutrition to review a wide sample of articles on child poverty from a number of different English-language newspapers. Using the database Factiva, I was able to filter my results by country, and once I set India as a filter, I was able to further divide results by major cities and regions within the country in order to select articles from many different Indian states. Though English is a frequently used language, more than 41 percent of Indians speak Hindi, making it the most common tongue in the nation (CIA, 2014), and an additional 22 languages are recognized by the Constitution of India (Government of India, 2014). One limitation to my data set is that it does not include extensive example of Hindi-language press coverage and provides no examples of the various other recognized languages. Indians who read and write in English will have very different journalistic frames of reference than those who only speak indigenous languages, and as a result, how the English-speaking journalists frame stories and how the English-language readers select and receive their news will provided a somewhat

26 17 limited viewpoint since the linguistic differences among each group shapes their views of truth, objectivity, journalism educational standards, and cultural and socioeconomic points of reference. In India, the national Constitution grants each state the ability to select which language will be used for internal administration and education (Article 343). For this reason, my research presents a more limited picture of state-level press on child hunger, but since the majority of Indian states either use English as a co-language or speak Hindi, I include a very small selection of Hindi-language articles that cover the issue of child hunger. These few Hindi press accounts will, I hope, provide possibilities for further research and help contrast the use of frames between the English and Hindi press account of child hunger. In order to understand these articles, I used Google s translation services. By translating frequent keywords or phrases that are prominent in my English-language samples into Hindi, I entered the following translated words into the customized search boxes on a number of Hindi-language online newspaper websites to identify relevant articles: child: बच च malnutrition: poverty: infant: As I searched for Hindi-language articles, I had to occasionally add the additional step of reading any images that would accompany the articles I received in my search results. Since there are several different ways to phrase the issues surrounding child hunger and deprivation, the terminology above did not always yield the most pertinent results. By examining the photographs that accompanied each article on the list of search results, I used commonly held

27 18 visual communication principles 3 such as the explanation by Roland Barthes (1977) that photographs convey connotative messages in addition to their denotative qualities to refine search terms as needed and hone in on the terms that resulted in the articles with the most relevance. (See Figure 1 and Figure 2 for examples of the visual images that informed that helped me determine the relevance of the Hindi-language articles). 3.3 Circulation Figures for Selected Newspapers This study s combined data set of English and Hindi press is designed to provide the most representative sample of the types of child deprivation articles that could reach an Indian citizen since I examine press from both the most universally spoken language and the language with the highest percentage of speakers per capita. In addition to this step, I have also been careful to select publications that are based in various parts of the country and that have high to moderate circulations. The circulation figures that I now list are for the top six most frequently cited English-language publications and for the top four most frequently cited Hindi-language publications in this research. Nielsen s (2013) Indian Readership Survey reports that of all of the news publication in India (of any language and of any periodicity), the Dainik Jagran is the most read and circulated paper in all of India. The Dainik Jagran is a Hindi-language daily, and it has an average issue readership of million (p. 9). Nielsen s survey goes on to list the circulation of the Navbharat Times, a daily out of Mumbai, Maharashtra with a million circulation. The final two Hindi newspapers that I sample are the Rajasthan Patrika which has million in circulation and the Dainik Bhaskar which attracts an impressive circulation of million readers per issue on average (p. 9). 3 For a more in-depth treatment of the visual communication principles at play in news media, see Image bite politics: News and the visual framing of elections by Grabe, M. E., & Bucy, E. P. (2009).

28 19 Nielsen s (2013) figures on the English-language dailies put the Times of India in the top spot, with an average issue readership of million read and circulated among the Englishlanguage dailies (p. 10). The prevalence of this newspaper is reflected in my sample selection insomuch as the Times of India is the English-language source from which I drew the largest share of English articles. Two other top dailies, the Hindustan Times and the Hindu, are also used with frequency in my research. The Hindustan Times attracts a per-issue readership of million. The Hindu receives an average of million readers per issue. For an idea about the size of India s readership for the languages other than English and Hindi, Nielsen ranks other high circulation dailies into a category labeled the top language dailies (p. 11). In 2013, the total circulation of these top ten language dailies was million readers per issue per day (p.11). These ten news publications ranged from million in average issue readership to million, and only six of India s other 22 official languages are represented by these publications (p. 11). According to this Nielsen report, the third most frequently read language in the Indian press (behind Hindi and English) is Malayalam, followed closely by Gujarati 4 (p. 11). 3.3 Presentation This paper represents my findings and is organized first by the broad frames that I identified in my review of the literature: socioeconomic disparities, regional or state disparities, 4 These numbers indicate that Gujarati is the fourth most frequently read language used by the Indian press, just behind Hindi, English, and Malayalam. It is interesting to note the prevalence of the Gujarati language here. Gujarati is the language of Narendra Modi, the BJP candidate whose popularity over his opposition, Rahul Gandhi, has been linked in part to the alienation felt by many of India s less affluent citizens who view English-speaking and Western-educated Gandhi as out of touch with their lives. Further, the language choice between English and Gujarati has even been described as a weapon in this election. During a visit to Gujarat to ask people to vote for her (and her son Raul s) Congress party in 2012, Sonja Gandhi spoke briefly in the Gujarati language, criticizing Modi s leadership of Gujarat (Indo-Asian News Service, 2012). The importance of language is a topic worth exploring as it relates to Indian press coverage, politics, and the serious issue of child deprivation and the impoverished.

29 20 and government interventions. Next, I subcategorize my findings based on the most frequently noted stratifications within these broader categories. For example, socioeconomic disparities will be analyzed with an eye toward education and employment status; regional or state disparities will subdivide the country at least along the commonly accepted line of poverty that separates the northern states from southern areas of development and wealth; and government interventions will be sorted according to the frames of blame and, less frequently, praise of the specific intervention or government official. I then summarize my findings as they relate to common benefits and challenges of the various emerging frames that work together to present the picture of childhood poverty in India. 3.4 Images Used with Hindi-language Child Poverty Articles Figure 1: "Child Rights" can be seen on the banner in the background. The women and children demonstrate proactive involvement in this photograph from: 38 percent of girls malnourished. (2014, April 4).

30 Figure 2: Women dressed in green and blue represent the Child Development Project as they lead a meeting with women and children in this photograph from: Waging a campaign against malnutrition. (2014, April 12). 21

31 22 4 RESULTS 4.1 Geographic Frames One of the frames I found in my research is that of geographic disparities. While some Indians enjoy a life of comfort many with the elite status of a Western academic education far too many others live in poverty. The Indian sub-continent is composed of markedly diverse regions twenty-eight states and seven territories in total many of which have unique languages and dialects (CIA, 2013). The development of so many languages in this region was due in part to the varying degrees of historical influence wielded by foreign cultures over particular areas, and in fact, the legacy of foreign cultures contributed to much of the societal diversity found among and even within each state (Kasbekar, 2006, p. 1). However, the poverty in India is not contained to a specific region, and even citizens of the same area can experience pronounced economic disparities while living alongside one another. Two disparate economic pictures, for example, are found in the Indian state Uttar Pradesh, India s second richest state (PR Log, 2011). People who staff the service industry that supports that region s thriving tourism-based economic institutions are driving this wealth (PR Log, 2011). In stark contrast, a farmer in Uttar Pradesh recently submitted an affidavit to the country s president seeking his permission to commit suicide because of the economic devastation of his entire family and the death of his young daughter from malnourishment (Aradhak, 2013). These two examples represent two ends of the economic spectrum in modern India, and while extreme, unfortunately the dichotomy presented by these two articles is not rare in India. Since India s independence, the country has often used developmental journalism to help with its monumental task of nation building, and the use of geographic frames often coincide

32 23 with articles that fall under the developmental journalism umbrella. The role of developmental journalism in India in particular is to discuss issues that are important for a civil society, such as democracy, social and economic justice, national integration, and economic progress (Yin, 2009, p. 390). It is primarily the last two goals which can be seen as the object of emphasis in the following English-language Indian press articles about poverty. While the articles often have to present some dire facts and statistics, there is still an emphasis on what progress has been made, and, through this exploration, the importance of developmental journalism becomes evident in how it impacts the English-language coverage s geographic framing. In contrast to the Englishlanguage press, one Hindi-language article that I examined emphasizes that the locality of poverty is more urban than rural while the English-language accounts focus on rural poverty and its effects. The article entitled With urbanization, the number of slums are increasing (2012) from the Hindi-language press also adds a dimension I did not come across in my exploration of the English-language press when it states that violence is a frequently reported factor that can exist as a comorbid condition with malnutrition. In late 2012 and the spring of 2013, India suffered from a devastating drought that severely cut into the nation s grain production, thus exacerbating the effects of malnutrition. The articles that cover this natural disaster display elements of developmental journalism such as promoting the national good by keeping morale up surrounding the drought. One such way that the press maintained morale in the face of dire drought conditions was by carefully selecting the language used in the articles. In an article that presented the rain deficit statistics for late 2012, the language used to describe the drought crisis included the phrases drought-like situation, drought situation, and water scarcity when referring to a discussion of what the Agricultural Minister Sharad Pawar and financial chief Ajit Pawar proposed to do with the drought-relief

33 24 budget (Joshi, 2012). While the headline stated, May have to prune budget to fund drought relief: Ajit, the word drought in the headline appeared with the word relief immediately following, and nowhere in the body of the article stated that there was an out and out drought (Joshi, 2012). Another example of boosting national morale by carefully selecting the language used to cover national crises comes from a Times of India article entitled Oommen Chandy reviews drought situation (2013). Again, the label of drought is avoided in favor of drought situation, a term with more positive connotations since situation implies a sense of temporariness. This type of developmental journalism distorts the reality that India s high levels of food insecurity are closely tied to situations such as the drought of In fact, the International Food Policy Research Institute s 2013 report states that India qualifies as one of the countries with the least resilience to weather shocks due to its poor Global Hunger Index score combined with its high incidence of weather disasters such as drought (p. 20). The report accounts for this rate of resilience by examining a country s food and nutritional insecurities prior to a weather shock, and the conclusion is that India s food and nutritional supplies greatly suffer from drought and other weather shocks (p. 19). Highly selective uses of statistics reflect the developmental journalistic trend toward strengthening democracy and guiding society (Yin, 2009, p. 390). One article quoted a recent census finding that 68 million Indians live in slums ( 68 million Indians living in slums, says census, 2013). While this may seem like a message that could prevent progress, a closer look reveals that the percentage of the overall population to which the headline refers amounts to about five percent, a number that may be true depending on the definition of slum, but nonetheless, five percent is a much smaller figure to put on some aspect of Indian poverty when

34 25 compared with the statistic that states that 46 percent of Indian s children are severely malnourished (Perappadan, 2013). The article also lists a number of what it called interesting qualifiers early in the body of the text such as comparatively positive statistics including a 90 percent availability of electricity in the slums and about 70 percent each availability of televisions and telephones ( 68 million Indians living in slums, says census, 2013). By selecting what statistics to include in the article, this author dulled the impact of finding out the number of Indians in slums by pairing this information with statistics that seem to counter the traditional image of slums such as the number of electronics that are present in the area. Carefully ordering the release of information is one feature way to employ developmental journalism, and the use of strategic ordering is evident in the coverage of Indian poverty. This tendency is represented in articles that reported on serious issues such as infant mortality rates and United Nations Development goals. One article that outlined a 2013 survey s depiction of the concerning state of poverty in the Odisha region quickly completed a shift in tone soon after the lead paragraph, and the troubling information presented in the lead was followed by more extensive explanations that outline the upside of the region s high growth trajectory and low cost of living (Satapathy, 2013). Many articles followed a similar pattern of qualifying bad news with positive statistics. Emphasizing economic growth and national integration, one article praised a new plan to combat malnutrition by stating that signs such as stunting and wasting were on the decline, and in reference to these statistics, a UNICEF-India nutritionist termed the improvement a game changer and attributed it to an overall improvement in feeding practices and hygiene as well as the program s focus on diminishing regional disparities in poverty conditions in favor of a more unified, national outcome ( A New Mission Against Malnutirition, 2012). This article exemplifies the idea of developmental journalism and serves